Discovery BoxDaniel 4:25
Context4:25 You will be driven 1 from human society, 2 and you will live 3 with the wild animals. You will be fed 4 grass like oxen, 5 and you will become damp with the dew of the sky. Seven periods of time will pass by for you, before 6 you understand that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms and gives them to whomever he wishes.
Daniel 4:32-35
Context4:32 You will be driven from human society, and you will live with the wild animals. You will be fed grass like oxen, and seven periods of time will pass by for you before 7 you understand that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms and gives them to whomever he wishes.”
4:33 Now in that very moment 8 this pronouncement about 9 Nebuchadnezzar came true. 10 He was driven from human society, he ate grass like oxen, and his body became damp with the dew of the sky, until his hair became long like an eagle’s feathers, and his nails like a bird’s claws. 11
4:34 But at the end of the appointed time 12 I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up 13 toward heaven, and my sanity returned to me.
I extolled the Most High,
and I praised and glorified the one who lives forever.
For his authority is an everlasting authority,
and his kingdom extends from one generation to the next.
4:35 All the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing. 14
He does as he wishes with the army of heaven
and with those who inhabit the earth.
No one slaps 15 his hand
and says to him, ‘What have you done?’
Daniel 2:21
Context2:21 He changes times and seasons,
deposing some kings
and establishing others. 16
He gives wisdom to the wise;
he imparts knowledge to those with understanding; 17
Daniel 5:18-21
Context5:18 As for you, O king, the most high God bestowed on your father Nebuchadnezzar a kingdom, greatness, honor, and majesty. 18 5:19 Due to the greatness that he bestowed on him, all peoples, nations, and language groups were trembling with fear 19 before him. He killed whom he wished, he spared 20 whom he wished, he exalted whom he wished, and he brought low whom he wished. 5:20 And when his mind 21 became arrogant 22 and his spirit filled with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and his honor was removed from him. 5:21 He was driven from human society, his mind 23 was changed to that of an animal, he lived 24 with the wild donkeys, he was fed grass like oxen, and his body became damp with the dew of the sky, until he came to understand that the most high God rules over human kingdoms, and he appoints over them whomever he wishes.
Jeremiah 27:5-7
Context27:5 “I made the earth and the people and animals on it by my mighty power and great strength, 25 and I give it to whomever I see fit. 26 27:6 I have at this time placed all these nations of yours under the power 27 of my servant, 28 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I have even made all the wild animals subject to him. 29 27:7 All nations must serve him and his son and grandson 30 until the time comes for his own nation to fall. 31 Then many nations and great kings will in turn subjugate Babylon. 32
[4:25] 1 tn The Aramaic indefinite active plural is used here like the English passive. So also in v. 28, 29,32.
[4:25] 2 tn Aram “from mankind.” So also in v. 32.
[4:25] 3 tn Aram “your dwelling will be.” So also in v. 32.
[4:25] 4 tn Or perhaps “be made to eat.”
[4:25] 5 sn Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity has features that are associated with the mental disorder known as boanthropy, in which the person so afflicted imagines himself to be an ox or a similar animal and behaves accordingly.
[4:33] 10 tn Aram “was fulfilled.”
[4:33] 11 tn The words “feathers” and “claws” are not present in the Aramaic text, but have been added in the translation for clarity.
[4:34] 13 tn Aram “lifted up my eyes.”
[4:35] 14 tc The present translation reads כְּלָא (kÿla’), with many medieval Hebrew
[4:35] 15 tn Aram “strikes against.”
[2:21] 17 tn Aram “the knowers of understanding.”
[5:18] 18 tn Or “royal greatness and majestic honor,” if the four terms are understood as a double hendiadys.
[5:19] 19 tn Aram “were trembling and fearing.” This can be treated as a hendiadys, “were trembling with fear.”
[5:19] 20 tn Aram “let live.” This Aramaic form is the aphel participle of חַיָה(khayah, “to live”). Theodotion and the Vulgate mistakenly take the form to be from מְחָא (mÿkha’, “to smite”).
[5:20] 22 sn The point of describing Nebuchadnezzar as arrogant is that he had usurped divine prerogatives, and because of his immense arrogance God had dealt decisively with him.
[5:21] 24 tn Aram “his dwelling.”
[27:5] 25 tn Heb “by my great power and my outstretched arm.” Again “arm” is symbolical for “strength.” Compare the similar expression in 21:5.
[27:5] 26 sn See Dan 4:17 for a similar statement.
[27:6] 27 tn Heb “have given…into the hand of.”
[27:6] 28 sn See the study note on 25:9 for the significance of the application of this term to Nebuchadnezzar.
[27:6] 29 tn Heb “I have given…to him to serve him.” The verb “give” in this syntactical situation is functioning like the Hiphil stem, i.e., as a causative. See Dan 1:9 for parallel usage. For the usage of “serve” meaning “be subject to” compare 2 Sam 22:44 and BDB 713 s.v. עָבַד 3.
[27:7] 30 sn This is a figure that emphasizes that they will serve for a long time but not for an unlimited duration. The kingdom of Babylon lasted a relatively short time by ancient standards. It lasted from 605
[27:7] 31 tn Heb “until the time of his land, even his, comes.” The independent pronoun is placed here for emphasis on the possessive pronoun. The word “time” is used by substitution for the things that are done in it (compare in the NT John 2:4; 7:30; 8:20 “his hour had not yet come”).
[27:7] 32 tn Heb “him.” This is a good example of the figure of substitution where the person is put for his descendants or the nation or subject he rules. (See Gen 28:13-14 for another good example and Acts 22:7 in the NT.)
